College football is back in full swing as the majority of FBS teams took the field for the first time on Saturday.
It’s always hard to get a gauge on Week 1 performances when there’s so much to learn about each team as the season progresses.
With that said, here are five takeaways from the first big Saturday of the year.
Billy Napier’s hot seat is scorching after a no-show loss to in-state rival Miami
No. 19 Miami walked into The Swamp with transfer quarterback Cam Ward and looked every bit the part of an ACC title contender. Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns, as the Hurricanes rolled over Florida 41–17.
But as impressive as the victory was for Miami—a team that appears to be the class of an underwhelming ACC—this game signals more about the state of Florida’s program than anything else.
Through two seasons (and one game) of the Billy Napier era, the tenure has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. The Gators posted a 6–7 record in Napier’s first season, and followed that up that with a 5–7 record in 2023.
Napier’s predecessor, Dan Mullen, took Florida to New Year’s Six bowl games in each of his first three seasons, but was fired at the first sign of trouble in Year 4 due to uneven recruiting, athletic department politics and an underwhelming on-field product in 2021.
Three years later, the Gators appear worse off for it. After an 0–1 start, Florida now must navigate one of the toughest schedules in college football to try to make a bowl game in Napier’s third season.
As if things weren’t bleak enough in Gainesville, Napier’s buyout is $26 million, making for a tricky situation for a program that deserves better.
No. 14 Clemson posts a program referendum loss to No. 1 Georgia
Clemson lost four ACC games in 2023 for the first time since the 2010 campaign—Dabo Swinney’s second full season as head coach.
If you thought that would be enough for Swinney to change his well-documented aversion to using the transfer portal, think again. Instead, Swinney doubled down on his program’s culture and doing things his way, while the rest of college football embraced the transfer portal as another method to roster building.
Swinney’s defiance of the current state of affairs in college football has led to his program falling swiftly from the ranks of the sport’s elite class. The Tigers have not made a College Football Playoff appearance since Trevor Lawrence’s junior season in 2020, and the program now seems far more susceptible to losing multiple conference games per year than it does to dominating the ACC like it once did.
Saturday’s 34–3 loss to top-ranked Georgia would have been shocking five years ago. Now? It’s expected when the Tigers contend with elite competition. And that’s a problem.
No. 8 Penn State found a passing game, making it an actual Big Ten contender and College Football Playoff threat
On paper, No. 8 Penn State entered 2024 as the third-best team in the Big Ten and a program that appeared primed to battle for one of the last handful of spots in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Based on a 2023 season that saw the program go 10–3 behind a stout defense but an offense that lacked a legitimate passing game against top-flight competition, a similar formula seemed reasonable enough to get Penn State into this year’s playoff.
But if the passing game in 2024 takes as big of a step forward for the entire season as it did on Saturday against West Virginia, then look out.
Penn State head coach James Franklin hired Andy Kotelnicki away from Kansas in the offseason to become the program’s primary play-caller and spearhead an improved passing game, and the early returns on Saturday were phenomenal.
Junior quarterback Drew Allar tossed three touchdown passes as the Nittany Lions cruised into Morgantown and came away with a convincing 34–12 victory over West Virginia.
Allar looked more comfortable in the pocket than he did at any time last season, and if Saturday is any indication, Penn State looks primed to not only seriously compete for a Big Ten crown, but perhaps win a game or two in the College Football Playoff.
No. 3 Oregon and No. 9 Michigan left plenty to be desired in their season opening victories
No. 3 Oregon was a 44-point favorite against the Idaho Vandals of the FCS, while No. 9 Michigan was favored by three scores against Fresno State. Both teams escaped with victories, but neither was particularly pretty.
For Michigan, this was somewhat expected, given the turnover on the coaching staff and across the roster following last year’s national championship. Even so, the Michigan quarterback situation appears to be a total mess. Former walk-on Davis Warren earned the starting nod over junior Alex Orji, a former four-star recruit, which probably says more about the staff’s lack of confidence in Orji throwing the football than anything else.
Warren completed 15 of his 25 passing attempts for a mere 118 yards with one touchdown and one interception. That was good enough on Saturday night to earn the Wolverines a 30–10 victory over Fresno State, but certainly won’t be good enough next Saturday when Michigan hosts the Texas Longhorns in the Big House.
Oregon, meanwhile, couldn’t gain separation from Idaho in their 24–14 win thanks to plenty of sloppiness. The Ducks had a missed field goal, a fumble on the edge of the red zone and two failed fourth down conversion attempts despite outgaining the Vandals by nearly 300 yards.
Michigan’s issues can be easily tied to a downgrade at quarterback, while Oregon simply could not stop stepping on its own feet against an overmatched opponent. But more will be expected in the near future.
No. 7 Notre Dame’s offensive line struggled, but the Irish defense was still elite in a road win over No. 20 Texas A&M
Much of the talk entering the game of the day in college football between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 20 Texas A&M in College Station revolved around the Irish’s inexperienced offensive line going up against an Aggies defensive front featuring plenty of future NFL talent.
Notre Dame struggled offensively throughout the night as expected, but came through in the clutch when it needed to the most. With the game tied at 13 with 6:12 remaining in regulation, the Irish embarked on a back-breaking eight-play, 85-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 21-yard touchdown scamper by running back Jeremiyah Love.
The Irish defense, like it did all night, closed out the Aggies on their final offensive possession of the night with less than two minutes remaining, and Notre Dame added a late field goal to cap off an impressive 23–13 road victory to spoil Mike Elko’s Texas A&M debut.
Notre Dame is a likely favorite in each of its remaining 11 games, and earned an early feather in the cap of its College Football Playoff resume.
Extra Points
- Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty’s 267 yards and six touchdowns on 20 carries in a 56–45 win over Georgia Southern shows why he is every bit an All-American candidate.
- Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea turned over most of his coaching staff in the offseason and took over the coordinating duties on defense. Early returns are incredibly promising for the Commodores, who stunned visiting Virginia Tech 34–27 in overtime. A great start to Year 4 for the Commodores under Lea and a disaster for the Hokies in a much-anticipated Year 3 under Brent Pry.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Week 1 Takeaways: Florida Gators Entering Crisis Mode.
